Some Carbon Belchers Seek New Image on Global Warming

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Ten of the nation’s largest companies, including Caterpillar and former Global Climate Coalition member, Duke Power, say they now want Congressional legislation to limit climate change--including at least a 10 percent annual national decline in carbon dioxide emissions. A Sierra Club spokesman offered hope that the companies will “throw not just their messaging weight but their political weight behind [the call for legislation].” Thomas Tanton, Institute for Energy Research vice president and global warming skeptic, called the turnabout a “good defense" against more stringent regulation. "Something less bad is better than something really bad.” How will Congress respond? Reporters for the Washington Post suggest that there is a “Harry and Louise”-type political ad by industry lurking to scare away innovation-driven legislators. “If you’re a Democrat in a moderate district, this is not the kind of vote you want to take,” Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, another industry-supported group, told the Post.